Chapter 181

Even with the most vague and unclear Bloodthirsty Red Moon, Yuki always felt that the core of the dungeon was to kill himself.

"Ahem, let's sort things out and make a summary of this period." Hiyori's voice was crisp, and she quickly adjusted her state, taking out a notebook to write and draw.

"During the Calamity of Blood, this city was characterized by slaughter and battle. There were eight deathmatch arenas, with countless spectators cheering for the carnage. The Cult was the mastermind behind it all, based in eight dark buildings, responsible for selecting opponents and cleaning up the mess."

"Through the first day's probing, we learned that the Cult collected various corpses, severed their heads, and performed some kind of ritual; the atmosphere in the deathmatch arena was frenzied, but Mr. Yuki's actions made them very uncomfortable, so the Soul Flame on those eight pillars were no longer excited, and no one was willing to fight Mr. Yuki."

The girl held a fine-tipped pen and drew circles on the words 'battle,' 'ritual,' and 'cheering,' then connected them with lines.

"The cheers fueled the frenzy of the battle, the battle produced corpses, which were then collected by the Cult for unknown rituals. These three elements can be seen as a whole, forming the basic logic of the plot's development."

"Then there are still some issues, such as the disparity between the soul energy Mr. Yuki obtained and the enemy's strength; these all require further investigation."

Everyone, including Yuki, nodded. In fact, they all knew this information, but it became clearer through Hiyori's words.

This scenario is somewhat similar to 'Those the Bystander Is Blind often blinded by their own perspective', both revolving around rituals, only simpler and more brutal, larger in scale, and involving more people.

Based on the basic logic, intelligent people can make conjectures, such as whether the ritual is the ultimate secret or whether it is related to the champion.

"Then what about those people on the street? They shouldn't be involved in the deathmatch," Hayasaka Ai asked softly, sensing that it was yet another system.

"Yes, it's related. Just as we suspected, this city is a huge deathmatch arena. I also noticed some details: these people's heads were also cut off, but they were just thrown into baskets and not taken seriously."

"Is it related to strength?"

"It's not just about strength, I think it's also about the attention. For example, why do those big screens show photos? Perhaps it's more exciting to see a powerful warrior defeated." Hiyori unconsciously flicked her pen, entering a state of deduction.

In the normal world, no matter how fervent the atmosphere is, it's still just so-so. But in a dungeon that involves Transcendental Grade powers, the surge in emotions can trigger anomalies.

"So the Cult is deliberately inciting a fanatical atmosphere, probably as required by the ritual. In that case, Mr. Yuki, you're in danger."

"The Cult did warn me, but there was no actual punishment. Don't you find that strange?" Yuki continued, drawing everyone into a deep thought.

Undoubtedly, his actions went against the demands of the Cult, which, judging from all indications, desired that kind of fanatical atmosphere.

"Perhaps we players are very valuable? Besides, Mr. Yuki, you haven't violated any rules," Hiyori said softly, immediately drawing a chorus of agreement.

As previously analyzed, players can even kill the guide at the start and take a different strategy route. No matter how Yuki to change the player's mindset, his attitude is never wrong, right?

Participate in the deathmatch, obey the arrangements, and give it your all when you step into the ring.

Despite the warning, the Cult didn't hold a knife to Yuki's neck and force him to withdraw the Night Domain.

"Yes, there are many ways to get your cooperation in battle and to stop us from investigating the secrets." Mai Sakurajima casually tossed a strand of hair behind her ear. "For example, we could capture me, or force you into submission."

The so-called skillful strategist subdues the enemy without fighting; force is the means to make others submit.

The Cult's logic is: if you're useful, I'll tolerate you; if I can't tolerate you, I'll eliminate you—there's absolutely no middle ground.

It's not that they're unwilling, but rather that their methods are extremely rigid and utterly uncompromising.

"What a hospitable Yadu Town, what a simple and honest Bloodlight City!"

Yuki made up a little rhyme, deciding to let the upperclassmen continue to probe. Perhaps he was overthinking it; the Cult's counter-espionage work was just too poor, and they hadn't discovered anything yet.

He took the notebook and started scribbling on it. "Getting back to the main point, I think that in this story mission, everyone has their own role, and every role has their own mission. There are currently five known missions."

He drew four circles on the names of citizens, soldiers, spectators, and the Cult, and finally emphasized the name of the 'player' a few times.

"So I want to know, what kind of mission does the player character have that makes the Cult value them so much?"

Everyone fell into deep thought. All they knew was that the 'player' was referred to as a seeded player and was participating in a bloody deathmatch.

"Okay, I'll add that to the Reconnaissance." Mai Sakurajima nodded immediately, rubbing her head. "We're too inefficient on our own; we need to find other player teams. Oh, and that Adam, weren't you quite interested in him?"

"Judging from the hints, there seems to be no conflict of interest between the players, and cooperation is highly likely."

"Unless someone wants to win the championship, but surely they're not that stupid, we've all discovered that there are entities that transcend the instance."

"And the soldiers, their rate of death is so fast, where did they come from? It doesn't seem like they gradually rose through the ranks from those spectators."

The crisp sounds rose and fell as everyone shared their opinions, quickly clarifying what needed to be done next.

Yuki didn't participate in the discussion. With her seniors there, she didn't need to worry about such tedious things and could focus solely on the battle.

Knock knock.

There was a knock on the door, and the discussion immediately stopped. Hiyori quickly put away all the documents, and when the door opened, it was Abate who entered.

"The Bull Demon challenges you." He cut to the chase, as if he had had enough of what he had seen and heard that day.

I couldn't stand it after just one day; the people here have absolutely no patience.

Yuki wasn't surprised; his plan was to reduce the number of battles and kill as few people as possible.

"One-on-one?"

"No, it's two against two, the Crimson Reaper will also participate."

Yuki nodded. He was quite familiar with the situation at Arena IV. These two warriors were among the strongest, having both appeared on the outdoor screen.

Once I've dealt with them, no one should dare challenge me at this stage.

"Alright, lead the way, Hayasaka, come with me."

He agreed without hesitation. Based on the previous summary, cheers, rituals, and battles were all superficial; the core logic of the instance's operation lay solely in one thing:

Slaughter and glory.

Chapter Eleven: The Battle of Warriors (4K)

Unlike the church in Yadu Town, which appears holy on the surface but secretly indulges in desires, from game prompts to what we see and hear, 'Calamity of Blood' clearly tells all players:

Slaughter and glory, blood and death.

This is the core of the instance; regardless of the ritual content or the final secret, once you choose to participate in the storyline, you can never escape it.

Then let's keep killing. We don't even need the senior students to put in any effort; we can get the answer by just keeping killing.

Then let's erase the glory. The people here crave glory, but I'll deliberately deny them, thus accelerating the plot.

Yuki stood at the entrance to the dimly lit passage, watching the intense battle unfolding on the arena.

This was a chaotic melee, with six warriors fighting randomly, wildly swinging their weapons at each other.

There was no mercy; they tore the opponent's body apart without retreating, even though the Bull Demon's power was overwhelming.

Standing below the ring, Yuki had to admit that this kind of deathmatch was full of bloody beauty. There was no need for any tricks or schemes; if you were a man, you would fight with your fists to the bone, showing your strongest side, and finally win or die in deafening cheers.

Scars and wounds are the medals of a warrior; blood and gore are the Destiny of a soldier.

"I'm suddenly a little embarrassed for you," Hayasaka Ai said abruptly, somewhat understanding why the man next to her was disliked.

"As professional gamers, our primary goal is to master the game, not to put on a show." Yuki rolled her eyes, staring coldly ahead. "We're not here to watch a show either. What's the point?"

"Yes, they are very disciplined. They said it was a chaotic battle, and they really did fight one-on-one. The remaining five warriors working together might be able to harm that Bull Demon."

Yuki nodded slightly; he had noticed it too. Just as he had previously observed, the people here were exceptionally straightforward.

Is there anything else?

"Secondly, these people, besides refusing to admit defeat, seem unable to tolerate being unable to fight." Hayasaka Ai gently tapped her cheek with her fingers, pointing to a stunned warrior. "Look, he's spontaneously combusting."

Are they impossible to capture? That makes it very difficult to extract information from them, and I don't have any control skills, so how can I verify my hypothesis?

Yuki's eyes flickered, and when he came to his senses, only the Bull Demon and another warrior remained on the arena. The warrior's choice made his pupils shrink slightly.

The difference in strength between the two was enormous, but just like before, the warrior did not hesitate to ignite his blood flames and charge forward with a desperate momentum.

The Bull Demon was clearly familiar with this desperate fighting style, so he focused all his efforts on defense. In less than two minutes, the warrior burned himself to ashes, turning into a pile of pale bones.

"It's confirmed, these lunatics can't be dealt with using common sense." Yuki covered his forehead in pain.

He originally intended to use his superior strength to bully the weak and test how to end the deathmatch, but these people immediately started burning themselves, giving him no chance at all.

"Judging from the blood flames, there's no difference between warriors and civilians. It seems your plan to slowly torture a civilian has failed." Hayasaka Ai knew exactly what Yuki was thinking and sighed, "It's a pity we don't have any control skills, like freezing enemies into ice sculptures."

Frozen? Wait, who said it wasn't?

Yuki suddenly thought of a certain young lady and was making plans when he was interrupted by enthusiastic cheers.

"The victor—" the Cult's host drawled, pointing to the warrior at the edge of the arena.

"Bull Demon!!"

"Bull Demon!!!"

The shouts were deafening, spittle flew everywhere, and the raised hands resembled a dense seaweed.

The sound sent chills down Yuki's spine, and he felt a strange longing for it. He quickly took a sip of Quiet Dew to regain his coolness.

Members of the Cult in black suits walked onto the ring, dragged the body away, and then the cratered ring repaired itself.

"Hey, what are you standing there for? It's your turn to go on stage," Abate urged from the side.

"Doesn't he rest?"

"Take better care of yourself."

OK.

Without another word, Yuki stepped forward, venturing from the dark passage into the suddenly brightly lit deathmatch arena. The moment his foot touched the ground, a sense of dread washed over him.

As if it had been rehearsed, when he appeared, the tens of thousands of spectators who had been cheering just moments before fell silent, turning the noisy arena into a deathly stillness.

A sense of oppressive silence descended, Hayasaka instinctively Yuki, only to see that the man remained calm, even with a smile on his lips.

The fact that the copy is rejecting his approach proves that he's doing the right thing, doesn't it?

Yuki felt he should laugh. He looked up and saw a warrior wearing a horned helmet, wielding a giant axe, his armor stained with blood, and a meteor hammer at his waist. He had just slaughtered several people and was in the throes of murderous intent.

Beside him was a figure with long limbs, dressed in scarlet armor.

Their fighting spirit and murderous intent were impossible to conceal. Yuki was very annoying. In their eyes, this was destined to be a difficult and dishonorable battle. Perhaps only by tearing Yuki's body apart and raising his head high could they find the most intense solace.

As for failure, it might be the only thorn in their hearts. They are not afraid of losing or dying, but they are not used to their desperate battles going unnoticed, to such a silent death without any glory.

"Aside from being a bit absurd, they are a group of tough, resolute men."

Yuki's gaze was indifferent. He had no personal relationship with these characters in the story, and he didn't want to be met with indifference on this path. At least from what he had seen, no one retreated or begged for mercy.

Once they step into the ring, everyone fights to the death, just like the fanatics of Yadu Town, with their unwavering beliefs.

"If possible, could we not use that thing?" Abate seemed to notice Yuki's gaze and whispered beside him, "The clash of iron and blood, a death match like men, you should try it. The passion and thrill of that battle are indescribable!"

He is very seductive, fighting to the death amidst the passionate the Scream of tens of thousands of people. Every killing technique will be cheered, making your knife even sharper.

Yuki imagined it for a moment, then smiled and shook his head, "No, I prefer a hidden killing intent."

After saying that, he left the constipated Abate behind and walked straight into the cylinder, opening his Devil's Vision to see signs that the 'flames' on the dark cylinder were reviving.

It seemed to be able to sense the emotional fluctuations of the entire audience, that suppressed sense of anticipation.

Interesting, this thing is indeed alive.

Yuki withdrew his gaze and looked at the two opposite him. His fighting spirit remained undiminished, but he did not rush to start fighting.

"You have insulted this arena, so I will kill you," the Bull Demon said in a low voice, as if he were not good at speaking.

"On the contrary, I give it my all every time, with utmost respect."

"Respect? You rejected everyone's cheers and disgraced the sacred battle." The Reaper spoke, drawing two serrated longswords. With a 'whoosh,' Crimson flames ignited on the blades.

Yuki had seen this sword burn enemies to ashes before, and after examining it closely from hundreds of meters away, he had a general idea of what it was.

Two Transcendental Grade monsters roamed through the Corpse Mountain, Blood Sea, their combat power a level above that of players of the same skill level.

The characters in the dungeon are mostly like this; the vast majority of players are ordinary people whose willpower and combat experience are no match for these professionals.

He wasn't going to engage in empty talk; he gripped the knife and took the first step.

"As the strong, are we meant to fight only to cater to the whims of the weak?"

This was the first time Yuki had answered. Before, he had always been deaf and mute, silently facing the enemy, killing silently, and then leaving without looking back.

The Bull Demon and the Reaper were taken aback, not only because this person had actually spoken, but also because what he said made a lot of sense.

Yes, shouldn't the strong be unrestrained?

They couldn't refute it, and after thinking about it seriously, they realized it contradicted their deeply ingrained beliefs, so they simply gave up on thinking about it.

A battle is a battle; it needs no reason.

"That's right, but I'm still going to kill you."

The two men's hostility lessened slightly, but their murderous intent intensified.